wood burner central heating

[dcbg]

Hi everybody, I am new to the forum and I am not a plumber.
This summer, I will be totally renovating a house in darkest Bulgaria. I am confident of all apects except the heating side of things.
I have a wood burner with back boiler that I want to install to run 4 radiators only. They are sized correctly and I understand the flue requirements etc. The main hotwater for the kitchen and shower will be an electric immersion heater as I won't need heating in the summer and I am happy with that in the winter too.
I have not seen any systems over there as they just have a woodburner in each room they require heat in (usually live in one room in the winter) and have asked around but to no avail.
Is there any simple diagrams for the requirements (there would be no regulations to follow as it is in the sticks and everybody does their own thing, but obviously, I want it to work and be safe) or, does anyone with this knowledge live near to Stoke and be willing to sit with me and draw a simple diagram ( I am willing to pay for the service). Some problems that may have to be considered.....It gets very cold in the winter (-28c)and we will not always be there, so would have to be easily drainable or would additives cope.?............There is alot of power cuts but I thought maybe a back up battery attached to the pump.? I also want to take the fittings, pump and other things with me from the uk as their fittings are poor quality.
Hope someone can help or it will have to be a seperate woodburner in each room. Thanks.

 

[shneld]

People may possibly be unwilling to offer advice in case it goes bang.

You say possibly have the pump battery backed, if power does fail and your battery is in poor condition, not man enough or that too has failed, due to lack of maintance, I beilve the water will start to boil and all hell break loose.

Things like PRV will need to be given carefull thought.

 

[WHPES]

You would probably be best with either a heatstore system or an old fashioned open vented gravity heating system. Design for gravity systems is quite important.

 

[sdsparks]

Do not plumb in a sealed system, you have an uncontrollable heat source. This means that should the temp of water in system reach 100c it will blow up, very dangerous. You cant plumb a wood burner into an unvented system in the UK its illegal because of the danger

 

[tamz]

There are legal ways to do it on the continent but you would need to know what you are doing and use the correct stuff.
It is not allowed in this country.........yet.

Speak to some stove manu's and see what they say.

 

[jbolland]

Hi dcbg,
I'm also not a plumber but this forum is great for picking up information and advice. I'm planning on a similar system with a woodburner in France, although it's a bit more complex as i want to incorporate solar heating and a heat pump.
I've spent some time working out the plumbing and electrical circuitry, the latter based on the Honeywell Sundial system. It's maybe a bit more than you envisage, but the plumbing layout might be of interest. There's also some basic plumbing layouts available on www.stovesonline.co.uk
If any of our experienced colleagues out there could cast an eye over my electrical circuitry I'd appreciate any feedback or comment.

 

[sdsparks]

I would talk to a renewables expert if I was you, your planning to invest a lot into your system so seek help, I see a number of problems with your plan, recently come back from a 4 week training course on renewables in Germany the market leaders so I know a bit

 

[dcbg]

Hi and thanks for the replys so far. So, a simple central heating system to supply 4 rads via a woodburner is not legal in this country?
As i mentioned in the op, I just want a diagram to show where to run the different sizes of copper, where to best place the pump and valves etc.
I have just recieved info from a friend of a friend in Bulgaria who has the same system (but only runs 2 rads in a small barn conversion) but i can't view the system till i get out there and i wanted to take all the fittings with me from the uk. Apparently, the only problem they had was when the pump packed in, but had only just lit the burner. They replaced it with a grundfoss bought from ebay and everything has been fine since. All they know is there is metal tank up near the roof (vaulted ceiling.) p.s there is also a battery by the pump, which they were told is charged when the electric is running and kicks in when there is a power cut.! I don't know anything about this but isnt that how a back up battery works on an alarm system.?

 

[tamz]

So, a simple central heating system to supply 4 rads via a woodburner is not legal in this country?

Not on a sealed system it isn't.
The easiest and safest way is to do it as on open system partly on gravity and pump the rest. This type of thing can be very dangerous if you get it wrong so make sure you know what you are doing.
This will give you some idea of the controls that are required (bigger scale but same principle)
ATMOS :: Other 42 recommended configuration of installation
ATMOS :: Accessories for boilers

At the minimum you need a flushing dump valve like a Honeywell TS130.

 

[WHPES]

Check up on local regulations (they probably just follow EU regs). Some European authorities can take a dim view of foreigners fitting non compliant systems so beware.

 

[dcbg]

There is no regs according to the village mayor and if you saw how they fit their woodburners, you would laugh. As i said, "anything goes".

 

[WHPES]

Oh yes there will be!! Don't believe it!! Maybe their local bodgers don't follow them but if anyone wants to make it awkward for a foreigner...........

 

[jambo]

done one of these and pipe sizing and pipe runs are crucial open vented is a must we had pure lava steam coming out of expansion as ther was no control over the wood burning stove WATCH WHAT YOUR DOING BOOM BOOM!